Exeter Seventh-day Adventist Church

Greed often accompanies prosperity and can lead to crime. It's in the Bible, James 4:1-2, TLB "What is causing the quarrels and fights among you? Isn't it because there is a whole army of evil desires within you? You want what you don't have, so you kill to get it. You long for what others have, and can't afford it, so you start a fight to take it away from them. And yet the reason you don't have what you want is that you don't ask God for it."

Wealth can give us wrong attitudes about material things. It's in the Bible, Luke 12:15 NIV "Then [Jesus] said to them, "Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions."

Be content - greed is a snare. The love of money leads to evil. It's in the Bible, I Timothy 6:8-10, NJKV. And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows."

Greed is self-destructive. It's in the Bible, Proverbs 1:18-19, NKJV. "But they lie in wait for their own blood, they lurk secretly for their own lives. So are the ways of everyone who is greedy for gain; it takes away the life of its owners."

Those who are focused on money and are greedy for gain should not be spiritual leaders. It's in the Bible, 1 Timothy 3:2-3, 8, NKJV.  "A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, temperate, sober-minded, of good behavior, hospitable, able to teach; not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for money, but gentle, not quarrelsome, not covetous...Likewise deacons must be reverent, not double-tongued, not given to much wine, not greedy for money,"

True gain is being content. It's in the Bible, 1 Timothy 6:6, NKJV. "Now godliness with contentment is great gain."

Don't lose your salvation for something as worthless as money. You can't take your wealth with you. It's in the Bible, 1 Timothy 6:7, NKJV. "For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out."

Don't take bribes. Proverbs 15:27 "He who is greedy for gain troubles his own house, but he who hates bribes will live."

Those who are rich by ill-gotten gains will meet their due justice. It's in the Bible, James 5:1-6, NIV, " Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming upon you. Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes. Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days. Look! The wages you failed to pay the workmen who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty. You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter. You have condemned and murdered innocent men, who were not opposing you."

Either your love for money will destroy your love for God, or your love for God will cast out your love for money. It's in the Bible, Matthew 6:24, NIV. "No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money."

Don't invest in the world that is temporary - invest in something with eternal dividends. It's in the Bible, 1 John 2:15-17, NKJV. "Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever."